Garrow receives awards for playoff, season accomplishments

Tiarra Garrow, a public justice major from Plattsburgh, N.Y., has been nominated for several postseason awards to close out her senior season.

Garrow, a senior tennis player, garnered many great achievements over her lengthy and distinguished career. Most recently, she was named to the All-SUNYAC team and received Athlete of the Week honors for her accomplishments.

She started playing tennis when she was in fourth grade, but quit shortly after that to go play hockey. When Garrow was in eighth grade, she resumed her tennis career. After that, she attended a prep school where she could once again play hockey, but once freshman year of college came, picked up the tennis racket once again and has continued with it to her senior year at Oswego State.

Before starting her successful career at Oswego State, she was already achieving in eighth grade by advancing to sectional finals where she played a three-hour match against a senior player. In ninth grade she backed that great performance up by winning sectionals.

When she got back into tennis her freshman year of college, she made the SUNYAC Championship at the number-three spot, which she feels is one of her biggest achievements, considering that she was only a freshman. She also said that making the finals at the number one spot for the past two years was another of her great achievements. Last year she was also a second-team all-conference selection in #1 singles.

Garrow’s senior year has been one full of great accomplishments. She has won eight of her last 10 matches, and on Sunday, Oct. 11, Garrow placed second in the #1 singles flight at the SUNY Championships for women’s tennis.

In her first round in the championship, against SUNY Cortland’s Loraine Jelinek, she lasted for three rounds and over three hours with the scores of 2-6, 7-5 and 7-5. She then competed against New Paltz’s Stephanie Schara in a two-round match with the scores of 6-4 and 7-6. But, she would end up losing to SUNY Geneseo’s Monica Vieth in the final round with the scores of 6-2 and 6-3. Garrow would finish out the year with a record of 6-3.

Athlete of the Week isn’t the only award Garrow is ending her season with also. She has been named the 2009 Cahill Award Winner, which is given out annually to the SUNYAC’s Most Valuable Player in women’s tennis, along with being named 2009 Women’s Tennis All-SUNYAC Second Team. The women’s tennis season is now over, so for Garrow there aren’t any more goals to set her sights on, but believes she has accomplished many if not all of her goals and expressed her gratitude being considered for the awards.